The Counterattack of a Loner

  Liu Handong took over the water basin and put it back on the ground, saying: "No need, I don't like this mouthful."

  "Big brother, don't despise me, I'm clean, this is the first time I've received a guest."

  Liu Handong was shocked and said: "What's wrong with you? Why are you doing this? Are you being forced by someone? I'll take you out to report to the police."

  "No, no, I'm willing to do it, Mei is a good person."

  Liu Handong frowned and said: "You're still a student, right? Is there something going on at home that you've started doing this?"

  Huang Xi's eyes suddenly turned red, and he lowered his head to say: "I'm a high school student, I didn't get into college, my mom has been bedridden for ten years, my dad is also seriously ill, can't afford to stay in the hospital, and there's still a younger brother in first year of high school. If I don't go out to make money, our family will be finished."

  Liu Handong said: "Can't you do something else? Why must you do this?"

  "I don't even know how to use a computer, let alone look for work. Mei Jie said this job makes money quickly, she was willing to bring me along, so I came."

  Liu Handong said: "It's not making much money doing this in a small hair salon, Mei sister is degenerating herself and bringing you down with her, I'll go find her!"

  "Brother, Mei is a good person. She said that I can start by practicing in the hair salon, and once I have experience, she'll recommend me to work at the bath center or even high-end clubs, then I'll be able to make a lot of money."

  Liu Handong couldn't help but laugh, wanting to say something, but suddenly he was speechless. He stood up and spoke without feeling any pain in his waist. If he put himself in Huanxi's shoes, thinking about her parents' serious illness, her younger brother needing to go to school, their family being extremely poor, everyone being indifferent, except for Mei Jie who was kind and willing to help... under such circumstances, what qualifications did Huanxi have to be picky, what capital did she have to be self-righteous and pure?

  The heavy pressure of life led a pure girl to degenerate and drift away, which made Liu Handong feel somewhat suffocated.

  "Big brother, don't go, if you leave, others will come, you're a good person, just buy me." Huān Xī begged, she didn't cry, presumably her tears had already dried up, accepting this reality.

  Liu Handong asked her: "How much did Mei Jie sell you for?"

  "Two thousand yuan."

  Twenty thousand yuan to buy a girl, the price is so low that it's hard to imagine, either Mei Jie doesn't know how to do business or she deliberately concealed the price, but Liu Handong didn't want to pursue this, it was someone else's normal business.

  "Two thousand yuan, all for you?" Liu Handong continued to ask.

  "Uh, I'll give it to you tomorrow, and then I can remit it back home. Big brother, please don't leave, if you leave, who knows what kind of person will come next." Xuan Xi was practically begging.

  The hair salons and massage parlors on Tiehua Street are the lowest level of consumer venues, with customers mainly from low-income groups, such as drivers, construction workers, and retired elderly people. Few customers are willing to spend thousands of yuan on high consumption, which may also be one of the reasons why Huanxi has not been sold out for a long time.

  If Liu Handong is not willing to buy it, the next customer may be a big-bellied old man, or a rough and dirty truck driver, perhaps even infected with a venereal disease, with a bad temper, in short, the fate of Huanxi is an unknown quantity.

  Liu Handong thought for a moment and said: "Okay, I won't leave."

  Xiang Xi revealed a delighted expression: "Big brother, you go wash up, I'll get the things."

  He turned around and pulled out a roll of toilet paper from under the pillow, a condom without a brand name, probably bought in bulk from a street-side husband-and-wife health store.

  Liu Handong hastily said: "I'm tired, I'll take a rest first."

  Kicked off his shoes and got into bed, soon began snoring.

  He was in a dilemma, stuffed the things into the drawer, carried the basin to the door and quietly closed it, sitting silently watching Liu Handong sleep.

  The banging sound next door continues, Shān Pào is in an exceptionally good mood today, and after eating a lot of lamb balls, he's incredibly powerful, going in and out seven times.

  The candle by the window went out, and he fell asleep in his chair.

  When she woke up, she was already lying in bed, her clothes hadn't moved, covered with a towel quilt. Liu Handong lay on two chairs, snoring loudly.

  The girl lowered her head and a crystal tear fell to the ground.

  ……

  The sky brightened, Shan Pao stretched his waist and came out of Mei Jie's house, feeling refreshed and invigorated. He looked up to see Liu Handong doing push-ups on the ground, muttering to himself: "998, 999, 1000!"

  "Hey big brother, your move is different from others, it even bounces back and slaps a palm." Shan Pao asked curiously.

  "This is the US Navy style of push-up," Liu Handong explained.

  "How exotic! What's the US Air Force like?" Shan Pao asked with a chuckle.

  "On the top of the head, a loud slap." Liu Handong took over the towel handed over by Huixi and wiped the sweat on his body, with many scars on his ancient bronze-colored skin.

  "Quite a few hits, aren't there?" Shan Pao exclaimed.

  "It wasn't a fight." Liu Handong said calmly, wearing a T-shirt.

  "How could it be anything else?" Shan Pao disbelieved.

  "It's all over." Liu Handong put on his clothes, made a signal with his eyes and called the mountain cannon to the front yard. The shampoo girls would sleep until noon before getting up, now the rolling curtain door was closed, very quiet.

  "Mountain cannon, lend me some money." Liu Handong said.

  Mountain cannon didn't hesitate: "Go ahead, you say a number."

  "First take three thousand." Liu Handong said.

  The mountain cannon pulled out a stack of money, counted three thousand to Liu Handong, and winked: "It was fun tonight, the little girl is still a virgin."

  "How much did you spend?"

  "Don't ask anymore, as long as you're satisfied, big brother, it's worth whatever the cost."

  "How much more!"

  "Two thousand, Sister Mei thinks you're handsome, so she's giving you a discounted price."

  Twenty thousand, and Mei didn't even have enough money for a decent funeral, but that's still quite generous of her.

  Liu Handong walked over with the money and stuffed it into Huanxi's hand: "Remit it back home, can't help you much."

  "Alright, let's go."

  Liu Handong and Shan Pao left from the back door, then Mei Jie finally dragged her slippers out. Last night, Shan Pao had messed with her enough, making her whole body feel weak and exhausted. This morning, she was still sleepy, but was woken up by crying sounds. She got up to take a look, it was Huan Xi crying, holding a stack of money in his hand.

  "Nier, where did this money come from?" Mei Jie was very surprised, the money Shan Pao gave her was still in her own drawer.

  "Big brother gave it." Huān Xī cried very sadly and resolutely, "Mei sister, I don't want to do this anymore, I want to go home."

  Mei sister lit a cigarette and advised: "Sister, once you enter this line of work, it's hard to turn back. Men are heartless, actors have no integrity. Don't be foolish, men just say some sweet words when they're in the mood, and you believe them? I've heard these words countless times when I was younger."

  "He didn't say anything."

  "Didn't say anything?"

  What's going on?!

  "He didn't say a word and just handed me this money." Huān Xī hadn't counted how much money it was, she had lived for 18 years and had never seen such a thick stack of renminbi.

  Mei Jie took the money back, counted it with her saliva, three thousand in total, plus the two thousand that should be given to Huān Xī, a total of five thousand, which is a large amount.

  This man is really generous, isn't he taken a liking to Huanxi? It's very possible, although Huanxi doesn't have much of a figure, her face is quite pretty and she's young, the type that men like.

  "Nier, bring over the broom." Mei Jie pointed to the broom in the corner of the wall.

  Huanxi picked up the broom.

  Mei's eyes are poisonous, and at a glance, she can see that Huanxi's walking posture is the same as usual, still an unopened bud, that man didn't sleep with her!

  "Nier, didn't he sleep with you yesterday?"

  "Mm." Yu Feng nodded silently, her eyes welling up with tears.

  Mei's sister was shocked, where in the world is there a cat that doesn't eat fish? That man was strong and vigorous in his prime, sharing a room with a lovely young girl, how could he possibly hold back?

  With Mei's social experience and IQ, she really couldn't understand this matter, so she could only fiercely throw away the cigarette butt and cursed: "Damn young people!"

  ……

  On the way back, Shan Pao was very happy and hummed a little tune. His butcher dog meat restaurant business was not bad, with several thousand yuan in income every month. Yesterday, he had offended Zhao Yu Feng, and his business almost went under. Fortunately, Liu Han Dong put aside past grievances and risked his life to help him out of trouble. Not only did he smooth things over with Zhao Yu Feng, but also established a relationship with Hua Bao. From now on, no one would dare to cause trouble for the dog meat restaurant again, and he could live a peaceful life.

  First go to 108, pick up Little Moon and come back. Liu Handong found that his room was cleaned by Little Moon, he couldn't help but say to Shanjun: "Sister-in-law is so virtuous, you should not be naughty outside."

  The mountain cannon said in a low voice: "Xiao Yue is pregnant, I occasionally play outside, and usually behave well."

  Liu Handong accompanied them to the butcher's dog meat restaurant. The two younger brothers returned from the police station after finishing their records, and they spent the whole night cleaning up and rearranging. They chopped up the burnt tables, chairs, and stools as firewood, and pasted newspaper on the smoke-blackened walls. Other losses were not significant, and all the pots, bowls, plates, knives, and rolling pins were still there.

  Sun Jikai and Sun Jiatao, two brothers, were talking about last night's events with great excitement. They had been hiding behind a house with sticks, but fell asleep unknowingly. At night, they heard the noise and rushed out to find that a fire had started. The arsonist had already gotten on his motorcycle, but the brothers beat him down with their sticks and called 110 and 119. Before the fire truck arrived, they used their prepared fire extinguisher and broom to put out the fire.

  "Still got the nerve to say, you two are clever, can't even get this fire started." Mountain cannon scolded.

  Xiao Yue was so scared, last night there were air raid warnings again. It turned out that their own store had been set on fire. How can we get through these days? She pulled on Shan Pao's clothes and said: "Let's go back to our hometown, let's not do this anymore."

  Mountain cannon way: "Your family doesn't understand anything, this fire is lit, we are really rooted in this street, of course the most grateful is big brother."

  Liu Handong said: "No need to be polite with me, you're several years older than I am."

  Shan Pao Dao: "It's not about that, Zhou Xingchi is still Star Master, Liu Dehua is still Huazi, Jianghu hierarchy and age are unrelated."

  Liu Handong said: "Suit yourself, you guys take your time collecting, I'm going out for a drive."

  "Hey big brother, slow down, come eat lunch at noon." said Little Moon.

  The tricycle was parked in the alley behind the dog meat restaurant, locked to a utility pole with a chain. When Liu Handong walked over, a man was squatting beside the vehicle reading a newspaper. Seeing him arrive, he hastily stood up: "Master, is this your bike?"

  Liu Handong said: "What's wrong with me?"

  The man said, "Thank you so much! If it weren't for you, my brother's hand would have been crippled. Please accept this small token of our appreciation." He then pulled out a basket containing two red plums and four bottles of Huaijiang special liquor.